Gilbert Speaks with The DIG the Japanese Music Magazine! In August 2008, Gilbert traveled to the land of Rising Sun for a three-city tour. He performed twice nightly at the Billboard Live in Fukuoka, Tokyo, and Osaka. In Tokyo, he spoke for thirty minutes with The Dig, one of Japan's top-rated music magazines. He was happy that he brought the rhythm section of the band to Japan for the first time. He mentioned how the one-hour Billboard Live shows made the use of a string quartet impracticable. His friends and fellow musicians give him names of musicians for the band and that they practice for a week before a major tour with the band in the morning and the quartet in the afternoon. When asked why two huge Japanese hits: "I Don't love You But I think I like You" and "To Each His Own" were not on the concert list he said that big hits are not important as good material, and that unsuccessful or unknown songs can surprisingly come over well on stage. He has no interest in singing songs by other writers and only records and sings his songs at sound checks. He's very good at singing his songs and would be very nervous and uncomfortable with other songwriters material on stage. He said "Never Say Di" received a lot of airplay. That it was released as a fun, summer sounding single to coincide with the two Glastonbury Festival performances. Much to the fans disappointment, the song is only available as an i-Tunes download. He stated that By Larry (The Little Album in Japan) was an early version of A Scruff At Heart and that the two albums are similar with piano and voice but that the piano on A Scruff At Heart was intentionally recorded very loud. He also said that the lyrics and the melodies on the new album are good and he's happy when people complain that the piano is too loud. As for "Alone Again (Naturally)" it was recorded in a fast three-hour session. He didn't recall the session musicians except for Guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. He feels the Golden Age of Popular Music is the Sixties. In 1968, he was living in a flat with three roommates and a piano in the corner. As a postal clerk he could not afford to buy records so he was influenced by radio especially the 24-hour music pirate stations. He was also influenced by Dylan, The Byrds, and of course, every Beatles album. He saw Pink Floyd in Concert at the Alexander Palace, as well as Marc Bolan, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and The Rolling Stones. He remembers sitting on the floor in 1968 listening to the broadcast of his songs from John Peel's Top Gear Radio Show. He's in touch with Clair Mills who now has two daughters of her own. A Latin Album, in the Pegge Lee style will happen. He's thinking about releasing his original albums in Europe and the US. They were already released in Japan. He's looking forward to the Royal Albert Hall Concert, which is set for October 26, 2009, and it will be a big event. He noted that his concerts are bigger and bigger and the current line up is the best he's ever had. He remarked that if you weren't very good and filling theaters, than venues like the Royal Albert Hall would not be offered to you. He plans to visit the USA in March or April 2009. Finally, he was excited to return to England to record four new songs with a large 40 piece orchestra and work on a new album starting in January. Arigato to two very special Japanese angels: Isao & Yasuhiko!

|Home||Music||Lyrics||Multimedia||Images||Links||Biography||FAQ||About Us||Email|